[2025 National Audit] Illegal Webtoons Cause 840 Billion Won in Damages Over 2 Years... Visitors Nine Times the Population

Park Suhyeon: "20% of the Webtoon Industry"
Copyright Awareness Budget Increased Fivefold, but Impact Remains Minimal

Damages caused by illegal online webtoons have exceeded 800 billion won over the past two years.

According to data released on October 23 by Assemblyman Park Suhyeon of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, based on figures from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, the estimated damages from illegal webtoon usage amounted to 840 billion won between 2022 and 2023. This represents about 20% of the domestic webtoon industry, which is estimated to be worth approximately 2.189 trillion won.

An analysis of traffic on major illegal webtoon distribution platforms such as 'Newtoki' revealed that the number of page views last year reached 4.29309 billion. The number of unique visitors was 489.05 million, about nine times the population of South Korea (51.68 million).

According to the "2024 Webtoon Industry Survey" conducted by the Korea Creative Content Agency, in addition to "the burden of paid subscription fees (32.8%)," a significant portion of respondents (12.2%) said, "Webtoons are not worth paying for." This indicates that a social perception that undervalues creative works is a major factor driving the spread of illegal usage.

The Korea Copyright Protection Agency increased its "copyright awareness improvement budget" from 350 million won in 2023 to 1.7 billion won this year, but the rate of illegal usage has shown little sign of decreasing.

Assemblyman Park stated, "The perception that does not recognize the value of creative works is widespread throughout society," adding, "It must be made clear that illegal copying is not simply a matter of convenience, but a crime that steals the labor of others."